


Wednesday

by spaceorphan



Category: Glee
Genre: Fluff, Future Fic, Humor, Kid Fic, M/M, Slice of Life, domestic!klaine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:01:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23335057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceorphan/pseuds/spaceorphan
Summary: Just an average day in the life of Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, and their baby Katie.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel
Comments: 28
Kudos: 70





	Wednesday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [justgleekout](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justgleekout/gifts).



> This was written for Glee Potluck Big Bang Fic Exchange snarkyhag and lilyvandersteen are hosting. This fic is written for: justgleekout! It’s a little early - but now ya’ll can have something to read over the weekend :) 
> 
> Thanks to snarkyhag for being my lovely and beautiful beta - slayer of any kind of short, slanted punctuation mark. ;)

**Wednesday 12:00am-1am**

Kurt arrives home, shuddering a little as he takes off his snow covered jacket and puts it on the hook by the door. The lights in the apartment are all off, save for the one in the kitchen they always keep on when one of them comes home late. Ella, their black cat, is sitting on the back of the couch, watching Kurt carefully as he takes off his shoes. The apartment is in decent shape. There are some bottles soaking in the kitchen sink and some of Katie’s toys are left on a blanket in the middle of the living room but, other than that, the place is pretty clean. Tuesdays Blaine has mostly off, and spends some of his time cleaning the apartment. 

Kurt pets Ella, who purrs as she stands and stretches. She gives a little meow. Blaine will have fed her a few hours earlier but Kurt grabs a treat from the kitchen to give her. Ella follows faithfully, knowing she’ll get her usual midnight snack. 

“This is just between the two of us, okay?” Kurt whispers, putting a finger to his lips and making the ‘sshhhh’ sound. 

He reaches into the cupboard and brings out some chamomile tea along with the ‘I Love My Papa’ mug that Katie (and mostly Blaine) had decorated for his birthday last year. While the water heats up, Kurt goes through the mail; statement, statement, phone bill that really needs to be moved to paperless, book of coupons that Kurt hates getting because it wastes paper but Blaine loves because they offer fifty cents off burritos from the Mexican place down the street, and an ad from a car place exclaiming that if you scratch off the boxes you could win thirty-thousand dollars or a new car. Kurt takes a moment to scratch the boxes but, alas, he has not won. He lets out a little sigh as he arbitrarily thinks about everything he could do with an additional thirty-thousand dollars. 

Kurt takes his tea and heads into Katie’s room. Ella follows dutifully. Katie’s lying in her crib, the one-year-old sleeping soundly as the twinkling sounds of her mobile sound above her. He smiles to himself, as he sips his tea, and watches his child sleep. Being a parent is not easy. So not easy. So not easy that his dad had a good laugh about it the first time Kurt called him up because Katie refused to sleep during the night. She’s a difficult little thing but she is their beautiful baby girl. 

Kurt reaches into the crib and caresses her tiny head, playing with the thin wisps of dark curls. He loves this strange, tiny human more than he can even say. Somehow, he believes he’s a better person just by having her in his life. 

Drowsiness begins to kick in, so Kurt heads to the bedroom. He knows the room without having to turn on any lights. Wanting to be careful not to wake Blaine - who’s sprawled out on the bed having pushed the covers off and over to his side - Kurt sets his mug on the nightstand and turns the lamp on the dimmest level. Blaine, who is often too warm at night, is stripped down to his boxers, and Kurt grins as he sees his husband. The chill of being outside, combined with the draftiness of the windows, is still with Kurt and yet Blaine seems to radiate heat at all times. Kurt takes a moment to up the thermostat a notch. They’ll argue about it in the morning as they always do. 

He is automatically into his bedtime routine; bathroom, skin care, brushing teeth, pjs. Kurt has surprisingly changed little about his ways since being a teenager. If you find something that works, keep with it, he figures. Ten minutes later, he is slipping under the covers of the bed. Phone plugged in beside him, baby monitor on, and mug of tea cool enough to enjoy as he picks up the magazine he had been flipping through the night before. 

Blaine rolls on the bed, gravitating to him without waking up, as if sensing that he is there. Kurt reaches down to grab his hand, giving it a squeeze before finally settling in for the night. 

**1am-2am**

Kurt is startled awake. He had fallen asleep, magazine still on his chest and open to the article he had been reading on how far a clothing design can be ‘inspired’ by a culture before it becomes cultural appropriation. He tosses the magazine on the nightstand. Instinctively checks his phone on the charger, listens a moment for sounds from the baby monitor and, when everything seems alright, turns off the light that had been left on. Kurt feels Blaine shift a little beside him, his legs sliding against Kurt’s as he curls in on his side and begins to drift off once again. 

**2am-3am**

Ella stalks the apartment. She spends some time hunting down a bug that scuttles across the kitchen floor, plays with it a little before letting it go. She then finds a receipt that had not quite made it into the garbage and jumps on it, as if it were the most fierce thing in the kitchen. She gives it a few swats, pushes it around until she tires of it, and heads to her dish for a drink. 

She stalks around the apartment once more, seeking out anything that makes any kind of unusual movement - a flash of light from outside, a shadow in the corner, the sound of something squeaking from below. She takes a moment to survey the baby’s room, climbing high on a bookshelf so she can look down at the little creature. She’s still unsure of it. It makes strange noises and grabs at her unexpectedly. But the smells have become familiar, so Ella tolerates it in her home. 

When she is satisfied, Ella jumps down and heads to the master bedroom. She jumps up to the bed, finding her normal place, a small section of the corner on Kurt’s side where feet don’t usually get at her. She kneads it a little, turns in a circle twice, then settles in for another nap. 

**3am-4am**

The snow falls heavily on New York City. The late-nighters are finally headed to bed while the early risers are waking for the morning. There is plenty of noise coming from Manhattan but, on the quiet, little street in Queens, all is still except for the snow mounting on the sidewalk. In a few hours, the first of the commuters, dog walkers, and hardcore joggers will be running through it. But for a little while, the snow will remain untouched and pristine. Only Ella is awake to witness the falling snow, not that she understands what it is and, even so, she’d rather be inside, cuddled in the same blanket as the humans. 

**4am-5am**

The Hummel-Anderson household remains quiet for a good long while. Kurt turns on the bed, pulling more covers with him as he does so. Blaine stretches out, letting one arm curl over Kurt, as if to anchor him in his sleep. Katie turns in her sleep, her mouth is hurting her but she isn’t old enough to understand why. She will be able to sleep a little while longer before the pain causes her to wake.

On the nightstand, Blaine’s phone buzzes once, the light illuminating the room for a moment. Only Ella notices the movement but knows it’s not worth getting up to investigate. Thirty seconds later, it buzzes again, then fades away, the silence of the apartment taking over once more. 

**5am-6am**

Blaine wakes ten minutes before his alarm. This is normal. However, he usually dozes until his alarm actually goes off, then proceeds to hit snooze a few times before actually getting up. Two things force him out of bed earlier than usual. The first being that Katie’s being fussy on the monitor and he should get her before she is loud enough to wake Kurt. The second is that it’s stifling hot. He rolls over in bed and smiles when he sees Kurt wrapped up in his blankets like a cocoon. Of course. 

He sits up, stretches, and contemplates taking a photo of Kurt looking like the blanket swallowed him whole - but he’s feeling a little too groggy to actually pull it off, and gets out of bed entirely. Besides, as amusing as it would be to post a picture of his unpolished husband, he knows Kurt would have a hissy fit over it. Instead, he goes to the thermostat and turns it back down to a reasonable temperature, one that won’t make him feel on fire in the middle of winter. 

In the other room, Katie’s cry has gone from a whimper to an all out wail, as if she senses that Blaine is now awake. Taking the baby monitor, Blaine heads to his daughter’s room. When he gets there, Katie is standing in her crib, one hand holding onto the rail as the other is occupied with a block that she’s trying to chew on. There’s a fair amount of drool everywhere. And the minute she sees Blaine come in, she lets out a wail. “Daaa,” she cries. She holds up the hand with a block in it, wanting to be picked up. 

“What’s wrong baby girl?” Blaine asks. She is usually much calmer in the morning. Blaine will find her playing with her toys, or even sleeping, when he gets up. But today she’s fired up, bouncing on her feet a few times before ultimately falling back on her butt. Blaine scoops her up and checks for a fever. She is fine but, oh, does she stink. “Let’s get you changed because you are smelly.” He gives her a kiss on the forehead. She cuddles into his chest and he rubs her back before setting her down on the changing table. He changes her but she’s still fussy and fidgety and continues to gnaw on the block in her hand. 

“Are you getting a new tooth?” Blaine asks. He tries to take the block from her, but she lets out a scream. “Okay, fine, you can have that until I find you something better. But I’m only allowing it because the alternative is waking Papa up, and neither of us wants that.” 

For a moment, Ella sticks her head in to see what all the commotion is all about but thinks better of it and heads to the kitchen to passive-aggressively sit by her bowl until Blaine remembers to fill it. 

Blaine goes to set Katie back down, thinking he’ll get her bottle ready and grab one of the rings they keep in the fridge for her teething, but the moment he sets her down she begins to cry again. 

He lets out a sigh. It’s going to be one of those days. 

He loves his little girl, and hates when she isn’t feeling well, but getting ready for the morning suddenly became a whole lot harder. He heads back into his and Kurt’s bedroom to grab his phone and the mug of now cold tea sitting on the nightstand. Katie, seeing her Papa, reaches out for him but accidentally drops the block. It bounces off Kurt’s shoulder and into the folds of the blankets. It’s too soft a fall for Kurt to notice but Katie looks up to him with those big, blue, begging eyes that usually do him in. Not today. 

“Nope,” he whispers, shaking his head. “You lost it. I promise I’ll find you something better.” 

Just as Katie’s wrinkling her face to cry, Blaine jettisons out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen. Ella picks her head up and lets out a meow. Blaine hasn’t forgotten about her, but she’ll just have to get in line. 

Blaine’s morning routine swings back on track, and despite having to carry Katie around while he does it -- usually she’ll play quietly in her crib as he uses the bathroom and makes them some breakfast -- he still manages to go mostly on autopilot. He even sings a little to Katie as he does so. She’s still upset but she enjoys when Blaine sings to her and is quiet as she listens. 

A few minutes later, Blaine is sitting at the kitchen table. Katie’s on his lap, content with her bottle, while he eats a piece of toast with jam. He is still a little drowsy as he scrolls through his texts; two from students who both want to know if they missed anything in class yesterday (this question always rubs him the wrong way - if it wasn’t relevant why would he have a class in the first place?), one from a colleague letting him know that Friday’s meeting is finally rescheduled to this afternoon (that’ll be tight, but he can make it work), and one from Cooper that just says ‘call me’ (god, what were you doing at 4am, Coop?).

Just as he is getting into his emails, Katie begins to grab at his phone, calling out for it. It comes out more like ‘own’ but he and Kurt are on theirs enough that Katie knows what it is. Blaine holds it away from her so he can keep reading. In defiance, Katie holds her bottle out and drops it on the floor while it’s still half full, the milk spluttering out across the tiled floor. A startled Ella retreats behind one of the chairs with a whine. Blaine stares at his child in awe. 

Outside, the chilly wind howls against the windowpane. 

It’s going to be one of those days. 

**6am-7am**

There is a block in his bed. Kurt had rolled to his back but a sharp pain digs into his shoulder and suddenly he is awake, squirming through his covers to find what he had rolled onto. One of Katie’s blocks - which means Blaine’s been up to things. 

Kurt looks at the clock and sighs. He had hoped to get a little more sleep but that seems inevitable these days. Being tired is the new constant state of mind. He could try to fall back asleep, but his bladder now needs his attention. After lying there contemplating his options, he eventually gets up. Who needs sleep anyway? 

On his way back from the bathroom, he notices Blaine is in Katie’s room doing sit-ups. Katie is on the floor nearby, serious in her task of putting all the shapes through the holes in the toy she has. She doesn’t seem to notice Kurt lean against the door frame. Blaine, however, notices him right away. 

“What are you doing awake?” he asks, as he continues to do his sit-ups. 

Kurt throws up the block he had carried with him. “Somebody drop this?” 

“Sorry about that,” Blaine says. “I figured it’d be worse to dig around for it and wake you up earlier. What time did you get in?” 

“Midnight or so,” Kurt replies. “I didn’t stay to close up - Elliott said he would.” He watches Blaine move his body mostly effortlessly. It’s slightly irritating. Kurt is having a hard time managing to stand up-right without coffee in his system. “I don’t know how you do that every morning.”

Blaine lets out a laugh. “You know, I do remember when you used to do your workouts in the morning.” 

“Yes, but I was much younger and dumber then,” Kurt scoffs. “Twenty-year-old me was kind of insane.” 

“Oh, but I liked twenty-year-old you,” Blaine says wiggling his eyebrows. “You were much bendier then.” 

Kurt scowls and playfully throws the block at Blaine, hitting him in the shoulder. Blaine laughs and tosses it over to where Katie’s playing. 

“Why are you even in here?” Kurt asks. 

“Thought I’d like the challenge of working out in a small space.” Oh, apparently sassy Blaine woke up that morning. Blaine nods towards Katie, who is now trying to get her block into the toy but it doesn’t fit and she’s beginning to get frustrated. 

“Is she being clingy again?” Kurt asks. 

“I think a tooth’s coming in,” Blaine says. He frowns down at Katie. “She’s been fussy all morning.” 

Frustrated with the toy, Katie begins whacking the block against it. Both Kurt and Blaine wince at the sharp sound. 

“Alright, you, c’mere,” Blaine picks her up. She protests a little as she is torn away from her toys, but Blaine gives her a teething ring and she seems satisfied as she snuggles in his arms. “I’m gonna take a shower. You know, if you want to start your morning workouts again, you can join me. We can have--” he looks down at Katie, then suggestively back at Kurt. “S. E. X.” 

Kurt lets out a genuine laugh and rolls his eyes. “I'm sorry, I don’t know what that spells anymore.”

“Oh, you’d like it. It’s better than chocolate cake.” 

“Don’t underestimate the amazingness of chocolate cake, Blaine.” 

Blaine leans in and gives Kurt a quick kiss on the lips as he hands Katie over to him. 

“Oh, strawberry jam this morning?” Kurt teases. 

“Better than your morning breath,” Blaine gives right back. 

“Eff you.” 

“I wanted you to, but you just said you prefer chocolate cake.” 

“Oh, I appreciate sassy Blaine,” Kurt says. 

“Well, sassy Blaine is going to be late if he doesn’t get his shower,” Blaine says. “By the way, my staff meeting was moved to this afternoon. I won’t be done until five. Is that too late for you? Or do we need to drop her off at daycare?” 

“That’s fine - maybe I’ll meet you downtown,” Kurt says. “We can have dinner together before I have to be at the theater.” 

“Oh, I’d like that.” Blaine gives him another kiss before shuffling past. 

“Alright you,” Kurt says to Katie. “Let’s get you ready for the day, then Papa is gonna need a lot of coffee.” 

**7am-8am**

Morning routines begin to settle in. 

Blaine spends a majority of it in the bathroom; showering, drying off, working on his hair. He doesn’t gel as much as he used to and instead blow dries it out to give it some volume. When he was younger, he’d listen to music while in the bathroom but lately, since Kurt sleeps in so often now, he tries to be as quiet as possible. 

When he is satisfied with his hair (which he can be as fussy as Kurt about), he does a quick morning skincare routine (which he is less fussy than Kurt about), and heads back to the bedroom to dress. He has a morning class to teach every day of the week, so it’s a dress shirt and pants accompanied with a different bowtie every day. 

The kids he teaches try to determine if there’s a pattern to the bowties. One semester he would wear a specific blue bowtie with flowers on days with tests and then stopped only wearing it on test-only days, just to see if the kids would react. Every class he had freaked out. They may not pay attention to what he is saying during class, but they definitely get a kick out of the bowties. 

He settles on a nice red one that matches his maroon jacket, and finishes his routine by collecting the papers he had been grading the night before and shoving them into a briefcase that has his initials on it. Even after years of having the same routine, as he gets on his winter jacket and boots, he thinks the whole thing is bizarrely grownup. 

As he heads out, he gives Katie a kiss on the head, Kurt a quick kiss on the lips. Kurt sleepily says ‘I love you’ as he heads out the door. 

The snow on the sidewalks is hard to trudge through but at least it’s stopped snowing, the sun beginning to peak its first rays of light over the building tops. Thankfully, the subway station is only a few blocks away. The same crowd of people who gather together for their morning commutes wait relatively peacefully for their trains to arrive. It’s strange that Blaine has kept the same routine for years now but mostly doesn’t know the other passengers. There are a few recognizable faces - such as Antonio, a Puerto Rican man, who visits his elderly mother in Greenwich Village every Wednesday morning, and Mrs. Clemshaw, a chatty middle-aged woman who works at a pharmacy just across the river. 

Upon boarding the train, they’re greeted with the sight of a guy with a questionable smell sitting at the far end of the train with four large bongos. Blaine shakes his head and takes his seat as he fishes out his earbuds, choosing to settle on listening to the next episode of My Favorite Murder podcast, hoping it’ll drown out whatever the bongo-man’s idea of music will be.   
  


**8am-9am**

Katie is proving more difficult than usual to get ready for the morning. Kurt had let her play while he made his coffee and checked emails on his phone, not in any hurry to get around. She had been content at first, looking through her books and playing with one of her favorite toys, a xylophone Blaine had bought her on her first birthday. However, when Kurt tries to pick her up, she wails in protest. 

Kurt thought he would try breakfast first - putting her in her chair and giving her some puffs. She protests the puffs, despite the fact that she loves the snack. He tries some oatmeal and some premade baby food, neither of which she takes to. She is definitely hungry, proven by the fact that she continually holds out a hand, demanding her favorite (cheese) but Kurt usually only feeds her that at lunch. He eventually gives her some shredded cheese, which she gleefully chows down on, until, seemingly, the pain in her mouth must be bothering her, and she’s in tears once again. 

He mashes up some bananas, grounding up baby aspirin into it that he hopes will make her feel better, and sets the new plate on her tray. Katie grabs some of the banana with her hand, instead of the spoon she has been learning to use, and throws it to the floor as if protesting. She nearly hits Ella, who is investigating the situation from underneath the high chair. 

Kurt takes a deep breath in - he is tired and snappy but he tries very hard not to yell at his child. He wishes Blaine, who is much better with patience, was here to deal with her. But he’s not, so Kurt is left hand-feeding her to make sure she gets the food, using everything in his power not to get upset with her. 

After breakfast, Kurt changes her and begins to pick out her clothes. Even at this early age, Katie seems to have an opinion on clothes, so Kurt lets her choose her wardrobe. It is a bit eclectic, but kind of funny to see what bizarre combination she will put together. As long as it’s practical, Kurt doesn’t mind what she does. He likes to think this had been what he was like as a child, and he can only imagine how his own parents dealt with it. 

Since she is still a little fussy, Kurt gets her another teething ring and lets her chew on it as they read a few books together. She sits on his lap, and they go over colors and letters and animal sounds until they are both sleepy. Kurt puts her in the crib for a nap. He considers getting some work done, but the bed calls out to him and he is back asleep almost as quickly as Katie. 

**9am-10am**

Blaine’s first class of the morning is the second semester of Freshman Music Theory. He gets a kick out of how blown away these kids are of simple concepts. His class on how all pop music is essentially based on the same chord structure is always a hit, especially when he sits at the piano and demonstrates. However, it’s not always fun and games. Sometimes they have to do actual work, and that morning, the students were in a rowdy mood. 

“Time for modulations,” Blaine says. Using his laptop projector, he pulls up a picture of a melody to display on the white board. There is an empty staff as well so that Blaine can write out examples. “We have our melody in the key of F, let’s modulate it into another key. Which one should we do?” 

“E-sharp major!” A kid named Ryan calls out from the back. There are snickers from around the room at Ryan’s joke of an answer. 

Blaine lets out a sigh. Ryan has been his most difficult student to date - only there for the obligatory credit. You see, Ryan has a career on Broadway to look forward to.  _ Why does he need to bother with the mechanics of music when they’ll just hand him the script and he will do what he does best? _ Whatever he thinks that is. 

“Alright,” Blaine says sharply, knowing well that Ryan didn’t intend for him to take it seriously. E-sharp major isn’t a thing, especially when it’s the exact same notes as F-major, only with a lot more double-sharps. “If you can successfully modulate this into the key of E-sharp major, then I’ll give you an A for the rest of the semester.” Blaine holds out the marker, an offer to Ryan to attempt the modulation. 

A hush falls over the class as they all turn towards Ryan, waiting to see how he will handle the situation. Ryan looks as though he is contemplating the offer, a few silent moments going by as if he is trying to work out how it might be possible in his head. Eventually, he throws his head back with a laugh. “Pfft, it was just a joke.” 

Blaine gives a little shrug, amused at how easily the kid gave up. “Let’s see if it’s possible,” Blaine says, wiggling his eyebrows. He goes over to the piano for a demonstration. 

Thankfully, the whole thing couldn’t have worked out better, because now he has a captive audience for his lecture. For the next hour, they go over how modulations work and how it is possible to go from F to E-sharp, even if it is the same thing. He even writes out the melody on the board in the ridiculous key signature as proof. At the end of the class, he hears a couple of Ryan’s friends mutter to him that ‘Professor Anderson owned him’ and Blaine can’t help but smile. 

**10am-11am**

Kurt wakes with a jerk. He isn’t sure what he had been dreaming about, but whatever it had been, it had shaken him awake. He glances over at the clock and realizes that he has been asleep for over an hour. He had intended to do laundry that morning, but maybe it’s for the better that he missed his window of opportunity. Not only did he need the extra sleep - he did feel much better at the moment - but with the amount of snowfall that had accumulated over night, hauling their laundry with a baby on his own over to the laundromat would have been cumbersome. 

Kurt heads into Katie’s room. She is sitting up, looking through one of her soft books. When she sees him, she smiles grandly and moves to get up, using the rails of the crib as leverage to push herself up. 

“Feeling better, huh Cheesepuff?” She bounces on her feet, anxious for Kurt to pick her up. “See what a little aspirin can do?” He gives her a kiss on the forehead. Hopefully, she will be able to get through most of the day. He’s got plenty of errands to run, having an upset child to contend with while doing them is hard. He has much more compassion for women who bring their obnoxious children into grocery stores than he used to. Sometimes you don’t have a choice. 

Kurt gets himself ready the rest of the way - grabbing a quick shower, and limiting his morning routine to just the essentials while Katie plays with the blocks he laid out on the bath mat. Now that he’s more awake, he somewhat wishes he could have taken Blaine up on his morning offer. He laments to himself that they have such little time together these days. 

He doesn’t have much time to get around - and opts for a granola bar and more coffee. Katie busies herself, crawling around the kitchen as he gathers his things for the day. He has to keep her out of the bottom cupboards as he grabs the grocery bags. She has recently discovered that she loves banging on pots and pans. Blaine thinks she is going to make an excellent drummer someday. Kurt contemplates discouraging it for his own sanity. 

Katie also follows Ella around, though Ella is too quick and is able to hide under the couch. Katie doesn’t find Ella but does find an old Cheetoh, which she tries to eat before Kurt catches her. She spits it out and screams ‘ucky’. Kurt puts a note on his mental list that they have to find a day to thoroughly clean the apartment. He is able to pick things up, though, finishing the dishes and wiping down the counters, enough so that Blaine won’t have too much of a mess to come home to later. 

Kurt even takes a moment to play with the magnetized letters on the fridge, going over with Katie a few of her letters and colors. She is excited every time she remembers the right one, and Kurt happily encourages her to continue. Eventually, he ends up moving around the letters to spell ‘I love Daddy’; a cute little note left for Blaine to find later. 

Getting Katie ready for outside is quite the ordeal. Not only does he pack the diaper bag to the brim - maybe too full but you can never be too prepared - but Katie’s snowsuit has about three different layers, and it’s a struggle to get her into any of them. Now that she is feeling better, she wants to run around. Getting her to sit still so that he can zip up the snowsuit is a workout. 

It is all worth it by the time they head out. Katie isn’t too cold and is somewhat mesmerized by white flakes covering the ground. Not feeling too much in a hurry, Kurt takes a moment to let her stand on the sidewalk so she can investigate the snow, tugging one of her little gloves off so she can touch it. She giggles with delight as she holds it in her hand. Despite the fact that it’s frigid out, Kurt’s heart warms at her smile. 

**11am-12pm**

Most days, he has office hours from eleven to twelve. On Wednesdays, Blaine uses the time for office use: catching up on emails, setting up lesson plans, going over assignments, and getting little things done that need to be done at school. He isn’t particularly busy that morning, so stops to admire a picture that Kurt sent over of Katie her snowsuit playing in the snow. He is about to text back when his phone rings. He rolls his eyes. 

“What?” 

“Is that any way to answer the phone? I am deeply offended.” 

“Hello, oh blessed and wonderfully esteemed older brother,” Blaine deadpans. “What do you want?” 

“You didn’t call me back.” Cooper is especially broody this morning, it is heavy in his voice. 

“You called me at four in the morning,” Blaine says. How did he manage to become the more mature one?    


“It was only one in the morning in California,” Cooper defends himself, as if that’s any better. 

“Is there something specific you want? I’m at work?”    


“Get ready baby brother…” Cooper pauses, too long, waiting for some kind of response. Blaine considers just leaving it to see how long he will wait for a reply, but Cooper’s too antsy to actually play along. “I’m coming to New York.” 

“When?” 

“Monday.”

“Monday?!?” 

“And I think we should spend an evening together,” Cooper suggests. “Make it a night out on the town. Big bro and little bro doing… bro things.” 

“No.” 

“What, why not?” 

“I have a child.” 

“You also have a Kurt who could take care of said child.”    


Blaine scoffs. “That… is so not how that works.” 

“C’mon, I just need a place to crash,” Cooper says, close to begging. “I have an audition early Tuesday morning in New York.” 

Blaine thinks it over. Monday night is usually reserved for Blaine and Kurt to have family time since it is the only night of the week they have off together. Maybe, though, he could spin this in a positive way - he and Kurt could get an actual date night.  They try to have one once a month and always joke that they’ll get a hotel and have ravenous sex. Since that fantasy has never happened, they’ll take just a night to have a nice dinner out and catch a movie.

“Well, if you’d like to be a babysitter, then something can be arranged,” Blaine says. 

“You know chicks of all ages dig me.” 

“You do realize she’s fourteen months old and related to you by blood?” 

“I have a very paternal instinct,” Cooper says. “I once booked a commercial where I had to hold a child for two-point-seven seconds and carry a laundry basket. Do you realize the skill that takes while remembering your lines and managing to point at the camera, too?”

“Do you want to babysit or not?”    


“Are you paying?” 

“Twenty bucks.” 

“Done.” 

Blaine lets out a heavy breath of air when he hangs up, putting the phone to his mouth. It will be fine letting Cooper watch Katie for one night, right? Now all he has to do is convince Kurt that it is a great idea, too. 

**12pm-1pm**

“So, I said to Tina. Tina, I’m sure Damien and Rolff are a lovely couple, who deserve a child, but are you ready to go along with everything that comes with being pregnant? All the mental and physical tolls that it will put on you? Are you ready to give up your life and put your dreams on hold only to give up this strange creature growing inside of you? Are you ready to never get your figure back? Though I guess it will help her boobs a little. It did help my boobs a little. Oh, maybe I gave her some bad advice.” 

Kurt is sitting with Rachel at their usual cafe, where they get lunch twice a week, not fully paying attention to her ramble on about Tina’s latest grand idea of carrying a child for a couple she only sort of knows. He is busy thinking about if he has time to head into his Vogue.com office to drop off some sketches and if he should head to the bank, despite it being out of the way. And he has a careful eye on Katie, whom Rachel has on her lap. Katie is going for Rachel’s salad fork and Kurt just knows the minute she gets a hold of it, something is going to be flung across the room. 

“Anyway, you know she’s just doing this because she thinks having a child will substitute for the fact that she doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Rachel continues. “Clearly she does not have the same emotional bond with this Damien and Rolff that I do with you and Blaine. And I was definitely in a better place emotionally and could handle being bedridden for three weeks. Can you imagine Tina’s demands if she had to stay in bed for an entire day? No… Besides, how would she handle being a pseudo-mother to this child, that is, if they even want her in that role. She’s just not ready. I was ready, of course.” 

Kurt rolls his eyes. Normally, Kurt would remind Rachel that Tina’s choices are her own and they really should butt out. But Katie’s got a hold of the fork and starts banging on the table with it, calling out ‘Ra-Ra’ with it. An elderly couple shoot glances in their direction. 

Rachel thinks Katie is saying her name, and not just being loud. “Oh, you are such a sweet creature,” Rachel coos, putting her cheek against Katie’s head and petting her. Katie doesn’t seem to care as she begins drumming on Rachel’s salad - causing the contents of it to go flying. “I can’t believe I pushed you out through my vagina.” 

“Okay,” Kurt leans over, grabs the fork out of Katie’s hand, then promptly picks her up to put in his lap. “That’s enough of that.” 

Rachel looks genuinely perplexed. “What?” 

**1pm-2pm**

Blaine: Cooper offered to babysit Monday night.

Kurt: Why? 

Kurt: Please don’t tell me he has another role where he’s playing a dad and wants to use our daughter to playact with. 

Blaine: Ha. 

Blaine: No. 

Blaine: he’s in town for an audition. I told him he could stay if he babysat. Figured we could make a date night out of it. There’s a new marvel movie out and we could try that new italian place that opened up a block from us. 

Kurt: See I was going to recommend a hotel where we could have ravenous sex.

Kurt: ::eggplant:: ::peach:: ::laughyface:: 

Blaine: yes, but thor and really excellent chocolate cake. ::wink::::wink::

Kurt: Yeah we probably shouldn’t go too far from home. Especially if cooper is babysitting. 

Blaine: hows katie btw?

Kurt: better after aspirin. She managed to make it through an entire meal with rach

Blaine: she did better than I could!

Blaine: Joking

Kurt: hopefully she won’t be too much trouble tonight. Left the aspirin on the counter for you just in case.

Blaine: thanks

Kurt: Btw - did you know Tina was thinking about having some other couple’s kid? 

Blaine: Is she cheating on us with another couple?

Blaine: lol

Kurt: we may actually have to have a chat with her. Rach says she’s really serious about it. She’ll be in town next week, maybe we can talk to her then. 

Blaine: Maybe she can babysit with cooper! They can learn about babies together!

Kurt…

Kurt: that is a terrible idea. They’ll probably end up having sex in our bed.

Blaine: at least someone will be having sex in our bed.

Kurt: you’re hilarious. We still on for dinner?

Blaine: Yup! 

Kurt: gotta go ::kissyface::::kissyface::

**2pm-3pm**

Kurt is at the bank. He has Katie sitting on the counter while he fills out one of the slips. She is a bit cranky. She didn’t eat much during their lunch with Rachel and now she is hungry. And possibly needs a change, which Kurt doesn’t do often in public due to the lack of changing stations in men’s public restrooms. Also - public restrooms. As soon as he gets this last errand done, he can get home, and get ready for this evening. 

He is typing numbers into his phone’s calculator when the phone goes off. His dad’s picture pops up on screen. Burt never calls during the day, so Kurt immediately picks it up. “Dad? What’s wrong?” 

“So, this lady decided that the lobby of the shop was a great place to do her nails…” His dad’s gruff voice begins a long winded story about a woman, her nails, and a tiny dog. 

Kurt pinches the bridge of his nose. “Use nail polish remover with rubbing alcohol and blot the stain,” he says, knowing exactly what the point of this story will turn out to be. “It’ll be fine.” 

“Well, my lobby looks like a murder happened.” 

Katie makes grabby hands for the phone. “Dad’y! Dad’y!” 

“It’s not Daddy,” Kurt tells her. “Grandpa.” 

Her big eyes light up. “Paw-Paw!” she yells, now wanting the phone even more. 

Kurt knew better. 

“Is that Katie?” His dad asks. “Let me talk to her.” 

“Dad, I’m at a bank,” Kurt says, trying to be reasonable. 

“Just let me say hi,” his dad argues. 

Knowing there is no way to win this one, he gives the phone to Katie. “‘Lo Paw-Paw,” she says. She has seen Kurt and Blaine both use their phone so much, she mimics how they use it. She nods her head as he talks to her and babbles nonsense into the phone. He can hear Burt’s laughter through the other end. It would be endearing if they weren’t in public. 

“Say goodbye, Katie,” Kurt eventually says, when he sees an older gentleman waiting impatiently for the counter. 

“Byeeee,” she says, though she showed no sign of giving up the phone. Kurt has to fight with her for the phone, eventually ripping it away from her. 

“Okay, Dad, I gotta go,” he tells Burt. 

“Okay, call me later. I wanna know when you’re coming home next.” 

“Probably not until after the show,” Kurt says. “Though you can come here if you like. I know Rachel’s dads are coming up next week if you’d like to catch a ride with them.” 

“Aren’t they divorced?”

“Yeah, but Rachel wants them both around for her birthday celebration.” 

His dad grumbles. “I’d rather walk.”

Kurt lets out a laugh. “Okay, love you.” 

“Love you and Katie, too. Bye.” 

**3pm-4pm**

Kurt is grateful that he put a couple of premade bottles into the diaper bag. Blaine had bulked at the idea of buying such an expensive bag - but the compartments for keeping things warm and cold had proved to be handy on multiple occasions. Having to feed a baby during a subway ride happens to be one of them. Still, Kurt wishes he would have grabbed a taxi. 

It is still frigid outside and the amount of people jammed into the subway car is making him claustrophobic. Normally, he would stand, but they’re well past Katie’s nap time. So he found a scrunched seat between a businessman pretending to read a newspaper and two teenage girls wearing ‘I (heart) NYC’ shirts. The girls find Katie amusing and wave at her while making funny faces. Katie tries waving back, balancing the bottle in her mouth as she lays against Kurt’s chest, but the bottle almost falls. Kurt catches it for her. Typically, Katie is chatty, even with strangers. Kurt thinks she takes after Blaine this way - able to make friends immediately anywhere she goes. But she is extra sleepy today and isn’t quite as interested in their attention. 

Kurt rubs her back, hoping that she will maybe fall asleep for part of the ride. He also hopes that the others in the car don’t notice the urine stench coming from the child though, from the sour looks the businessman keeps throwing at him, it is apparent that Katie needs to be changed. Just a few more stops, Kurt thinks, and they’ll be home. 

His phone rings. Thinking it’s Blaine getting out of one of his classes, he shuffles around trying to pull it out of his jacket. It’s more of a struggle than it should be, having to balance Katie, the bottle, and the arm tied up in the diaper bag. The two teenagers are kind, though, when Katie nearly falls into them. They rub her head and coo. While Kurt thinks it is weird to touch another person’s child, they aren’t a threat so he lets it go so to answer his phone. 

It’s Elliott. That can’t be good. Elliott calling in the middle of the day is never good. “Hello?” 

“Hey, Kurt.” Elliott’s hesitant. There is a pit of worry growing in his stomach, more than when his dad called. “So… we may have a problem at the theater.” 

“What kind of problem?” 

“Some of the pipes froze last night,” Elliott said. “And then they burst this morning. The entire basement of the theater is flooded.”    


“Shit.” He usually doesn’t swear, especially around Katie, but it slips out. 

“Yeah, I have a plumber here now, he’s looking at the damage, but you may want to come, too. Not sure if we’ll have to cancel the performance tonight.” 

God, he hopes not. He and Elliott cannot really afford to be cancelling performances of their tiny co-owned theater. “Is the main area affected at all?” 

“I don’t think so - but you may want to get down here.” 

“That’s going to be tough. I have Katie and Blaine won’t get out of work until maybe 5.” Kurt lets out a sigh. There goes their family dinner together. Why is it always something? 

“Well… what do you want to do?” 

The question hangs heavy for a moment. “I’ve got to stop at home first and change Katie, then I’ll be down. I’ll have to text Blaine to stop by the theater and grab her.” 

“Sounds good.” 

Kurt hangs up, frustrated, and pushes the phone against his mouth, going over options in his head. The train screeches to a halt and the jostling of passengers to and from the car wakes Katie, who had just begun to doze. She lets out a little whimper, not thrilled with the disruption. Poor girl, Kurt thinks as he rubs her back to comfort her. So much for having somewhat of a routine. He will have to let Blaine know that she missed her afternoon nap. Kurt puts his cheek to his daughter’s head. He could have really used a nap, too."

It’s just one of those days.   
  


**4pm-5pm**

Blaine is in his staff meeting and doesn’t hear his phone, which is buried in his bag, ting with a new text message. They are busy having the usual conversations about budget cuts and curriculums; and all the boring parts of being a teacher. He is happy to help out where he can, and has managed to secure himself on three committees, having to turn down any further ones due to time constraints. He would love to help with an actor’s workshop later that month though. He loves teaching - it is his passion, and he loves working with the kids. He will have to talk to Kurt about it first to make sure their schedules will line up enough. At the moment, though, it’s hard enough with their schedules being so different. He does not want to take away what little family time he has. And Blaine feels as though he’s constantly being pulled in ten directions at once. 

Near the end of the meeting, he grabs his phone to check his calendar when he notices the text message from Kurt - letting him know that there’s been a change of plans and he will have to head to the theater to pick Katie up. Blaine stares, deflated, at the message for a long time. Long enough that one of his colleagues asks him if there is something wrong. He says that there isn’t - though he is sure the disappointment appears on his face. 

**5pm-6pm**

By the time Blaine gets to the theater, he finds Kurt just outside his office, directing about four different people. Katie is in his arms crying. The minute she sees Blaine (and she sees him before Kurt does) she becomes singularly focused, squirming out of Kurt’s grasp to get to him. Blaine steps in between the small group for the handoff. Kurt doesn’t even have to stop his speech, just hands Katie over. Katie settles in against Blaine’s chest, momentarily calmed by his presence. 

“Sounds like you’ve been having fun,” Blaine observes once the people have left. He follows Kurt into the office, where Kurt shuts the door and leans against it, taking a moment. 

“It’s been a long day,” Kurt says with a heavy sigh. “The pipes burst.” 

“Fun.” 

“It’s a total mess,” Kurt goes over to his desk, where he pulls up the diaper bag, zipping it up so Blaine can take it home. “But shouldn’t effect the tonight’s production - though I have one actress who is screaming bloody murder about her dressing room being flooded. She should have just taken her personal belongings home like I told her weeks ago. Whatever.” 

“How’s she been?” Blaine asks, referring to Katie, who is playing with his bowtie. 

“Fine,” Kurt tilts his head to consider. “I wasn’t able to get her an afternoon nap.” 

“It’ll be fine,” Blaine says, bouncing her in his arms. “Hopefully she’ll crash.” 

“Sorry about missing dinner,” Kurt says, resigned. 

“It’s fine,” Blaine offers a smile, but it lacks any enthusiasm. “We can have dinner on Monday.” 

A tired grin spreads across Kurt’s face. “I’ll schedule in non-negotiable chocolate cake time.” 

“Sounds good.” 

The two of them stare at each other for a moment. They don’t need to say anything. They can read each other’s minds. Blaine loves his life, loves his career, loves his husband, loves his daughter but it is hard - so hard sometimes. It’s strange, too. He’s standing right next to Kurt and, yet, there is a part of him that misses Kurt. And he is sure Kurt feels the same way. It won’t always be like this. They have slower days, special moments together, holidays and vacations to look forward to, Katie being older and on her own. It’s a good life, but it is most definitely not a perfect one. 

The phone on Kurt’s desk rings, breaking their moment. “Alright, I guess I need to get back to work.” 

“Hopefully, things will run smoothly tonight,” Blaine says. He leans over to give Kurt a kiss. 

“Love you,” Kurt says to him, then gives Katie a kiss on the forehead. “Love you, too.” 

“Say ‘bye’ to Papa,” Blaine says waving his hand at Kurt. Katie mimics with a grin and calls bye as the head out. 

Blaine mouths ‘love you’ as Kurt picks up the endlessly ringing phone. 

“Alright, baby girl,” Blaine says as they make their way out of the theater. “What should we have for dinner?” 

**6pm-7pm**

Kurt is sitting behind his desk, typing on his computer when Elliott comes in with a couple of sub sandwiches, a bag of chips, and two drinks. “I’ve got some news,” he says putting the food down in front of him. 

“Great,” Kurt says, not looking up. “Tell Traci that she’s under contract and can’t leave just because she’s forced to have a dressing room with Laura.”

“What? No,” Elliott laughs. “I just talked to the people from the insurance company. They’re going to cover the damage from the pipe burst.” 

“Thank god.” 

“Also, that reporter from the Times is back.” 

Kurt stops typing to look up at Elliott, unable to read his face. “Is that good or bad?” 

“Well, she’s been here for the other two plays we’ve produced,” Elliott says, “and she seemed to like both of those, so I’m guessing it’s a good thing? Hard to say - we did take more of a gamble on this one.” 

“We picked a great director, though, I think it’s a good show,” Kurt says, unwrapping his sandwich. 

He hadn’t realized how hungry he is until he bites into it. It’s fine, not dinner with Blaine and Katie though. He gives the picture of the three of them on his desk a look. It’s a warm, sunny day. Blaine has got Katie on his shoulders, a big goofy grin on his face. Kurt is beside them, straining to get into frame since he is the one taking the photo. That had been a good day. 

“You okay?” Elliott asks. 

“Yeah,” Kurt says with a heavy sigh. “Just tired.” 

**7pm-8pm**

Blaine had bought pizza on the way home. The box sits open on the coffee table, a few slices gone. Blaine hadn’t bothered to grab a plate, opting to eat right out of the box. He had warmed up some leftover Mac and Cheese for Katie and they had a nice dinner in the living room watching an episode of The Great British Baking Show. Kurt loves the show, too, but the two of them are so rarely home together that he gave Blaine his blessing to go ahead and watch it without him. 

The evening is a quiet one. Blaine spends time grading a few papers. Katie plays on her blanket in the living room. She is not feeling as bad as she had been earlier in the morning, but the lack of nap has made her cranky and she gets frustrated easily when her shapes don’t fit into her toy the correct way. Ella camps out on the back of the couch behind Blaine, content to watch the evening activities at a distance. 

Usually, Blaine will spend a little time playing music with Katie before bed. Sitting at the piano and with Katie on his lap, the two of them plunking out keys. Most children will smash the keys and make noise, but Katie’s curious about the sounds, and presses them one at a time, listening intently to the unique melody she plays.. 

That night, they settle for book reading insead. Katie curls up on his chest, gnawing on one of her teething rings, as he reads her favorite books. She is usually more interactive with them but tonight she is drowsy, falling asleep as he reads. When she is finally asleep, Blaine takes a moment to watch his beautiful, baby girl. Despite how hard it is to be a parent and, god, he and Kurt had no idea as much as they prepared, she is still one of the best things that have ever happened to him. 

Trying not to wake her, he leans forward to the coffee table to grab his phone so that he can get a picture. 

**8pm-9pm**

Kurt stands off of stage left, watching the performers on the stage. Some days he misses performing. It has been a few years since he’s had a role. In some ways his job now is much harder. Having to run a theater and a production might be the second hardest thing he has ever done next to being a parent. And yeah, having the freedom of immersing yourself in someone else’s world - letting go of your reality and indulging in someone else’s - is a nice escape. But he’s okay. 

He watches the actors doing their lines, making the play come to life, and he is okay that he is no longer front and center. Sometimes you end up in the role you were always supposed to be. 

**9pm-10pm**

Katie is in her crib, sleeping soundly. Blaine has the baby monitor in his hand as he begins his evening routine. He quickly washes his hair to get out the gel and his face for good skin care. He takes a few moments to clean up the living room, putting the pizza away and leaving a note on the fridge to let Kurt know there’s some left for him if he is hungry when he gets home. He does the dishes, preps some of Katie’s meals for tomorrow, and gets her formula ready. The trash is getting full, so he takes it to the chute in the hallway so that Kurt doesn’t have to worry about it tomorrow. 

While he is in the hallway, he grabs the mail, smiling at the coupons for the Mexican restaurant down the street. He leaves the rest of the mail on the counter for Kurt. 

Ella follows him around as he finishes his chores for the evening. Blaine makes sure to feed her, rubbing her head as she starts to chow down on her food. He takes a moment to look around, checking off the boxes of his mental list of things that need to get done before he goes to bed. When everything is fine, he shuts off all the lights, except the one over the sink that he leaves on for Kurt.

He pops in quickly to Katie’s room and watches her sleep for a moment or two. Then blows her a kiss goodnight as he makes his way to his own room. Blaine brushes his teeth and changes out of his clothes - he rarely bothers with pajamas anymore - and heads to the bed. Just before he gets into bed, however, he takes a moment to lower the temperature, smiling as he does so. Despite preferring it lower, he knows he’ll be toasty warm by morning. 

He then pulls back the covers and checks his texts and email one more time. When he lays down to go to sleep, he takes a moment to study the picture of he and Kurt that he keeps at his bedside before turning off the light.

  
  


**10pm-11pm**

It is not snowing out tonight, which makes the walk to the subway station more bearable. Everything went smoothly that evening; the show received a nice applause, the pipes will hopefully be okay until tomorrow, and, once again, Elliott sends him home to lock up on his own. At some point, Kurt should stop feeling guilty about having him close up the theater every night. Elliott says he doesn’t mind - especially when Kurt is the one with the family - though he suspects Elliott goes out more with the cast afterwards. 

Sometimes he thinks if he should try to be more social with them. He wonders, despite only being in his late twenties, when he became the old man of the group - having to go home to his family while the rest of them head out to some club. 

As he checks his phone again, he smiles at the photo Blaine sent of Katie asleep on his chest. Kurt doesn’t regret any of his choices. He checks the weather for tomorrow - still cold but at least it will be sunny - and bundles up further as he waits for the train to take him home. 

**11pm-12am**

The apartment is quiet. There is a stillness to it that only happens at this time of night. In the master bedroom, Blaine is sleeping soundly, the covers all pushed to one side. Katie is dreaming over in her crib, a blanket clutched in her little hands. Ella heads over to the back of the couch, making herself nice and comfortable so that she can doze.

The sound of jingling metal breaks the silence as the door is unlocked. Kurt arrives home, and the daily cycle of the Hummel-Anderson household starts all over again. 


End file.
